Log debarker having revolving flails



Oct. 20, 1953 w. P. M COMB, JR

LOG DEBARKER HAVING REVOLVING FLAILS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NW. 8, 1949 William P 3gb]?! ATTORNEY Oct. 20, 1953 w. P. MGCOMB, JR 2,655,961

LOG DEBARKER HAVING REVOLVING FLAILS Filed NOV. 8, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 g William PWZZZZ Z Jr.

ATTORNEY Oct. 20, 1953 w. P. M COMB, JR

LOG DEBARKER HAVING REVOLVING FLAILS 4 Sheets-Sheet 75 Filed Nov. 8, 1949 INVENTOR. William P Mdbmb In 61/. faw

ATTORNEY Oct. 20, 1953 w. P. M COMB, JR 2,

LOG DEBARKER HAVING REVOLVING FLAILS Filed Nov. 8, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 V INVENTOR. Wallmm I? McfombJn W BY s l- EW 51m HMGL Q ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 20, 1953 DEBARKER HAVING REVOLVING FLAILS William. 1.; MoQ m 1 3- Gonroe ies- Applieation November 8, 1949, Serial No. 126,199

1. Claim- Th s inv nt n relates to a. 1 s debarke; ha the: re olving; flails.

An important object of the invention is to pm.- ide lee d ba k ns mechan sm specia y d signed for removin bark from timbern order to fr e the timber of a fore gn matter so that the s wdust. and slabs subseq ently pr duced when the timb r s. manuiaetured nto lumber, wi l. be. c ean and, thus more desirable for convertine. nto th r c mm rcial form he in ention also mb d es. he pr ision of no el deharking elem nts wh ch are b ought into successive contact with the 0s surface to oosen and remove t e bark.

A furthe jec of: the invention is the provision of improve debarking mechan sm em: hodyihg novel driving mea s therefor, wh reby th bark, may be easily and, completely removed from a log in a single operation or pass through the mechanism.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the fol owing specifioa ioh which i illustrated by the accompanying dra ngs, wher in- Figure 1 is a sid elevation of the complete machine;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of. the front track. or oonveyor;

F gure 3 is a verti al, se ti nal View thereof;

Figure l is a vertical, sectional View taken on t line 4-4 f. Figure 3;

F gu 5 s elevational view of. the timber guide;

gur 6 s n. nlarg d, f a m nta y. elevational View f the t mb r guide or tra k; and

Figure '7 i a ross-sectional view taken on he line '|'l of Figure 5,

Referring now more particularly to the drawinss. wherein like numerals of reference designate the same parts in each of the figures, the um ral 1 designates an upright stand whose upper end is for-med into a ring, as 2, to which the supporting, drum-like frame 3 is secured in any preferred manner. As shown, it is secured to the ring by means of suitable bolts.

Mounted to rotate about the frame is a bracket or crosshead 4, which is confined against Substantial longitudinal movement on the frame, by means of an external rib 5 on the frame in front of the bracket and the upright stand l, as is clearly shown in Figure 3. Between the bracket 4 and the stand I there is bolted to the bracket an annular sprocket wheel 6 provi d o r iv a sprocket chain 1 driven from a suitable source. The bracket 4 is thereby revolved on the frame.

Fixed in any preferred manner, as by bolts, on the forward end of the frame, is an annular ring 8 whose margin is provided with sprocket teeth,

and a. continuous but non traveli-ng; sprocket chain 8 mesh with pposite groups of the teeth of he ring 8, but spaced from those teeth inter mediate aid opposit groups because of being trained over sprocket wheels l3, as described later.

The hraelset 4. has. the lateral ad a ly proi a ing extensions 4a, 4d at opposite sides, and these extensions, or arms, are provided with forwardly directed, rotatable spindles H1, H1, which are mounted to rotate bearings H therein. Each he ringhas mside pocket it, said pockets he in preferably, transversely align d, a d on th pindles in saidpockets there are the sprocket wheels it which rotate with said spin e The sprocket;- chain 9. being held against travel by the fixed sprocket &, en ages: over the sprocket wheels l3, and rotates them upon rotation of the head consequently rotates the spindles l0.

Eastehed on the forward ends of the spindles i l, to rotate therewith, are the circular, WhGQI? like anchors l4, 14, which o ously otate with thespindles,

A preferred term of the driving mechanismhas been described, although it is obvious that this. mechanism, can be readily modified mechanically without departing from, th p ciple. of its peration and use. Spaced about they periphery of the anchors M are he d bark ng' elements l5. These elements are preferably of flexib e character, such as lengths of than; r cable which are secured at their end to the margins of the anchors [4. These elements may be of any selected length, and f rm lo ps which, as is illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, will contac the surface of the s e his sent through, th equipment in a mann r hereinafter explained,

Spaced to the rear of the frame. above referred to, is a, su port ng- Structure embodying upstanding supporting beams Hi, It; which are latere ally spac d, the required. distance, and a trans v rse shaft 11 whose ends have. bearings in said beams and, at one end, said shaft l1 extends out beyond its supporting beam, and fixed hereon is a sprocket. Wheel 18 over which the sprocket chain operates said spr ket chain l9 bein driven irom a sui able source of power.

Connecting bars .20, 20, are p tally mounted on the transverse shaft 11 and ex end e ch Way beyond said shaft. These connecting bars, are unit d into a unitary f ame st ture by erase rods 2|, a d are provi ed at a h. end with al gned openin s which form bearings for trans verse and shafts He, l'lb having inte mediate their ends sprocket wheels 22d, ZZZ) over which i a ned an endless sprocket chain 23, n op the bars 20 are elongated guide plates 24, 24, which diverge upwardly, as shown in Figure 7, and which extend substantially from end to end of said frame.

An additional sprocket wheel 22 is mounted on shaft [1 (see Fig. 7) adjacent the sprocket wheel 18, and a corresponding sprocket wheel 220 (see Fig. 6) is mounted on one end of the shaft llb. An endless chain 231) is trained over the sprocket wheels 22 and 220, whereby chain [9 and sprocket wheel [8 drives chain 23 through shaft 17, sprocket wheel 22, chain 23b, sprocket wheel 22c, shaft l 7b, and sprocket wheel 22b. Intermediate the ends of transverse shaft 11, a guide sprocket wheel l8a is mounted so that the central portion of the upper run of the chain 23 will be constantly supported or guided while the equipment is in operation, the upper run of said chain 23 moving upwardly along the timber guide or track. The sprocket wheels 22a and 2212, respectively are fixed on the transverse shafts Ila and [1b.

The log to be operated on is moved on to the guide plates 24, which form a track, and the chain 23 engages with the under side of said log and moves it along, as indicated in Figure 3, thus forming a conveyor.

Upper connecting bars 25, 25 have rear ends mounted to pivot on a transverse shaft 26 which is mounted in bearings in the upper ends of the beams 16, and the forward ends of these connecting bars 25 are mounted on a transverse shaft 21 which, in turn, is mounted to rotate in suitable bearings in the lower ends of corresponding hanger bars 28. When the shaft 21 is driven (by means not illustrated), it drives the sprocket chain 23a.

These connecting bars 25 are united into a unitary frame structure by cross-rods 29. Secured to opposite sides of said last mentioned frame, are elongated guide plates 30, 30 which diverge downwardly, as shown in Figure 7, and which extend substantially from end to end of said frame.

As shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6, links 3| are pivoted to said upper frame by a transverse rod 29a forwardly of beam I6, the links at their lower ends being connected to the lower frame by rods 21a rearwardly of the beam 16, and said upper and lower frameworks are spaced a sufiicient distance to receive a log, to be debarked, between them, and this log will be substantially centered by the guide plates 24 and 30. 7

When the machine is empty the forward end of the upper track will move downwardly, oper ating through the link 3| to move the forward end of the lower track upwardly, as shown in Figures 1 and 6.

Levers 32, 32 are pivoted between their ends to a suitable overhead support 33, and pivoted to opposite ends of these levers and depending therefrom are the hangers 28, 28, and hangers 34, 34. Each hanger 34 is formed of two parts having a slip joint connection 35, and each hanger is normally held retracted by a pull spring 36 whose ends are connected to the respective sections.

Forwardly of the frame is anoutfeed track corresponding in structure to thelower, or receiving, track at the rear of the machine. However, this forward or outfeed track, while slightly diiferent from the rear track, is mounted and constructed to receive the forward end of the log as it moves along through the machin and to support it in proper position while the debarking elements are operating.

The forward track includes angular frames 31 whose forward ends are supported on a transverse shaft 39. The ends of this shaft are supported by upstanding supporting legs 49, 40, which are spaced to give the required clearance for the log being conveyed. A transverse shaft 42 is mounted in bearings in the lower ends of the spaced hangers 34 and supports the rear ends of the frames 31, the latter providing bearings for a short transverse shaft 43. A sprocket chain 38 operates between said frames and over sprockets on the shafts 39, 42 and 43.

Secured to the frames 31 and diverging upwardly therefrom are guid plates 4|, which extend from end to end of the frames 31, the rear ends of the frames and guide plates being upwardly and forwardly pitched so. as to readily receive the forward end of an approaching log.

A track or conveyor is thus provided which is supported at its rear end by the strong coil springs 36, thus allowing the track to center relative to the frame 3.

The bracket or crosshead 4 has the sprocket wheel 6 fixed thereon as hereinbefore stated and suitably driven by a sprocket chain 1 from a selected source of power. Accordingly, the crosshead or bracket 4 is revolved about the coincident horizontal axes of the stationary drum 3 and the stationary sprocket wheel 8; and the non-travel- I ing sprocket chain 9, being meshed with the revolving sprocket wheels I3, causes rotation of the sprocket wheels l3, the shafts Ill on which said sprocket wheels are fixed, and the anchors I l, and thus causes the loops 15 to revolve around the axes of the shafts l0. Said anchors and loops also revolve around the log to be debarked and thus knock the bark from it as it moves along the conveyors.

WhatIclaim is:

A log debarker comprising a supporting frame including a stationary drum, an annular crosshead surrounding the drum and rotatable thereon, annular rotatable anchors mounted on the crosshead to revolve with the crossheadabout the axis of the drum, means for rotating the crosshead, flexible debarking elements attached at peripherally spaced points on the margins of the anchors, an annular sprocket immovably secured to said drum in concentric relation to the axis of the drum and having external peripheral teeth, a rotatable sprocket connected in driving relation with each of said anchors, and a nontraveling endless chain in intermeshing engagement with said immovable sprocket and said rotatable sprockets, and operable upon rotation of the crosshead to rotat said anchors.

WILLIAM P. MCCOMB, JR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 314,876 Poole Mar. 31, 1885 503,908 Hahn Aug. 22, 1893 944,290 Spaak Dec. 28, 1909 1,176,452 Hubbell Mar. 21, 1916 1,243,294 Hruska Oct. 16, 1917 1,317,542 Botje Sept. 30, 1919 1,692,028 Elliott Nov. 20, 1928 2,448,689 Schnyder Sept. 7, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 41,554 Sweden 'of 1916 69,348 Sweden Sept. 22, 1928 191,619 Germany of 1907 

